[raatkirani2005]

Originally Posted by Spice

as far as I know:
Gharara: 2 legs, fitted from the thighs, pleated/bunched at the knees, and then flares out majorly. The width of both legs combined is that of a lehnga (so a lot of fabric used, a ton of volume, it looks almost clownish if you cant carry it off properly),
Sharara: Similar. 2 legs, fitted from the thighs, but then flares out, not pleated.
Lehnga: Skirt- though it can come in many different styles/shapes.
Ghaagra: Very similar to the lehnga, or maybe it can even be considered as the 'traditional lehnga'. Its a skirt which ends just above the ankles, and generally really, really wide- wider than a normal lehnga.

The pic in question seems more like a sharara to me.

Originally Posted by sumiyia

i'm pretty sure a sharara is not two legs.. its more like a skirt.. and there's different types of shararas - some with a lot of "ghayr" or extra fabric, and some that are almost A-line.. mine was more the latter.. how'd this transfer over from bridalwear to here?

Originally Posted by Asvi

A sharara doesn't have two legs..what Sumi said.

Originally Posted by Spice

I was pretty sure it was 2 legged (I used to war them when I was little), so I ran a search and ta-da!
Sharara - Sharara Choli, Indian Sharara, Sharara Suit, Sharara Dress

Originally Posted by sumiyia

i think that might have to do with linguistic differences between india and pakistan, which is probably where all this confusion is coming from. from my understanding, sharara is one legged, gharara is two legged, usually with gota on the knees and extra pleats around the knees. my searches also gave me a one legged gharara, but it was called a gharara because of the gota and pleating around the knees, as well as a two legged sharara which was straight pant legs without any gota or pleating...

so now i'm totally confused. maybe sharara and gharara differences are related to the pleating and not the number of legs the skirt has?

Originally Posted by muslimahpower

my shararas dont have two legs. its like a skirt.

Originally Posted by DramaRani

I think the one's that don't have a goat, or a lot of pleating at the knees, and tend to be tighter at the top with a not-so-traditionally-wide part after the knees maybe kara ghararas. I remember my khala was trying to send me one a few years ago because they were really popular in Pakistan. Anyway, who knows!

We're all in agreeance that a gharara is the two legged bellbottom formal pant thing with the gote at, above or below the knees with lots of gathers there.

Now about the sharara--everyone is right. I've noticed that in some parts of Pakistan, a sharara is a skirt. It refers to a skirt that looks like a gharara because it has a gote with gathers. But instead of two legs, it's one all the way. About a decade ago, it was really trendy with brides and some people (at least in Lahore) used to call it a Rajastani lehnga.

Now, when you have the wide leg pants with no gathers, a lot of people call that a sharara too. I think I've seen people in Lahore refer to it that way. In India, they'll call that a sharara too, although on some clothing websites, I've seen it referred to as "parallels."

I've also noticed that in some parts of India, and with some Urdu-speakers in Karachi, a sharara also refers to a regular lehnga and is used interchangeably with it.

Basically, everyone's right. For that picture in bridal wear, I would say that was a designer gharara cut in a modern way. It had a higher gote and less gathers. Just a variation of a gharara to me. A "sharara" wouldn't have a gote.

Everyone happy?